After a second day in which the agreement on the ‘humanitarian pause’ was shaky, the third and penultimate day of the minimum number of days agreed by Hamas and Israel, through the mediating countries, went smoothly: 17 hostages left the Gaza Strip for Israel. and another 39 Palestinians, this time all minors, were released from prison. The positive results of the ceasefire have prevailed and there are indications from all sides that it could continue beyond today. Hamas stated that it wanted to continue the period without violence, the President of the United States also said that he would work in this direction, and negotiations are underway about the secrets of Israel and Qatar.
Nine children and four women were released by Hamas as part of the current agreement. In addition, a Russian-Israeli also left Gaza, as a gesture of recognition of the terrorist organization towards Vladimir Putin – as Hamas stated in a statement – and three more Thais. These four left for Egypt via the Rafah border crossing, while the rest were handed over to a group of special operations soldiers in central Gaza.
Fourteen Thais and one Filipino had already returned to freedom outside the agreement, according to Iran, thanks to its diplomatic efforts. After all, 63 of the approximately 240 who were brought to Gaza after the attacks on Israel on October 7 have already left the enclave.
Among those released, Elma Avraham, 84 years old, who was in a weak state of health, was hospitalized. And after three days, North American President Joe Biden saw what he had long hoped for become a reality: the departure of a hostage of his nationality: in the case of four-year-old Avigail Idan, whose parents were murdered by Hamas fighters in the in the presence of Hamas. You. When informing the country of the girl’s release, Biden said he would ensure military operations remain suspended.
“We continue to apply pressure and hope that more Americans will also be released. We will not stop working until all hostages are returned to their loved ones. This agreement was the result of a lot of hard work and weeks of personal commitment from me and my colleagues. I hope the ceasefire will be extended,” he said, before speaking to the Israeli prime minister for the 15th time since October 7, to convince Benjamin Netanyahu, among others, to give the break more time.
According to Reuters, the Israeli leader said that if the Palestinian side continues to release 10 hostages a day, the ceasefire, as originally agreed, could last up to 10 days. The possibility was discussed by the Israeli government during a meeting at the end of the day, according to CNN.
On the other hand, the Mossad is in talks with the Qatari secret services – the main mediator with Hamas – about the recovery of the hostages. Reuters says employees of the Arab country’s secret services arrived in Israel on Saturday and will stay indefinitely. But it was Hamas who first signaled that they wanted to extend the humanitarian pause for more days, but in return they want Tel Aviv to release more Palestinian prisoners.
“We want two things: to see Hamas destroyed and to free the hostages. And right now the second outweighs the first. That is the compromise.” The words come from Nadav Peretz, survivor of the October 7 attacks on Kibbutz Nahal Oz, to the Times of Israel, and reflect the sentiment of many Israelis, who demonstrated the night before in Tel Aviv for the return of all hostages and not only 50, and also for the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Under pressure from all sides and with public disagreements with other ministers of the emergency government, Netanyahu went to the Gaza Strip for the first time, where he met with military personnel and visited tunnels. Above all, it was intended to reiterate the message that the war will continue after the break until the daily stated objectives are achieved: destroy Hamas, release all hostages and make the enclave a place that does not pose any danger to Israel. “We will continue until the end, until victory. Nothing will deter us and we are confident that we have the power, strength, will and determination to achieve all the objectives of the war.”
Hamas is interested in extending the ceasefire to free itself from hostages and gain points in its international image, while providing respite for fighters and possible reinforcements of supplies, especially in the north, and trying to gain credit as political organization. The pause could be important for the Israeli government to calm public opinion, but also for the army to replenish itself. According to analyst Zoran Kusovac, speaking to Anadolu agency, Israel has a shortage of precision bombs. On the other hand, while the tactics should continue in the north and in Gaza City, in the south there is still no certainty about what the next step will be, as the allies do not want the people of Gaza to be subjugated for another collective punishment.
HRW “exempts” Israelis
An explosion near al Ahli Hospital on October 17 led to the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians and international anger, with many blaming Israel for responsibility. For example, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, pointing to Tel Aviv, “I call on all humanity to take action to put an end to this unprecedented cruelty in Gaza,” and days later he began calling Hamas “liberators” to call.
Now the NGO Human Rights Watch says what Israel claimed from the start: the explosion was caused by “an apparent munition launched by a rocket, such as those commonly used by Palestinian armed groups.” In the report released by HRW following an investigation into the incident, which included listening to witnesses and experts, and analyzing photos, videos and satellite images, the organization does not completely close the door to other hypotheses, as it does not have the location visited or visited the location. access to images of explosive fragments. “While the failure of projectiles fired by Palestinian militias “is normal, further investigation is needed to determine who launched the apparent missile and whether the laws of war were violated,” HRW said.
The brothers learned of their mother’s death when they arrived in Israel
When they were released on Saturday evening, brothers Noam (17) and Alma (13), children of the Portuguese-Israeli Dror Or, did not know the fate of their mother, Yonat, who was killed during the October 7 attacks on Kibbutz Beeri. an armed wing was murdered. from Hamas. “We had to tell them the sad news,” Uncle Ahal Besora told the place All news about Israel. Dror Or, 48, became a Portuguese citizen after being kidnapped – as did Adina Moshe, released on the first day of the ceasefire – and remains in captivity, as does Noam and Alma’s cousin, Liam, 18.
The separation of kidnapped family members appears to follow a pattern, which led an Israeli army spokesman, Jonathan Conricus, to state that “Hamas has been waging psychological warfare with the hostages’ families since the beginning.” Conricus said Hamas has spread false and misleading information about the hostage situation.
Before the ceasefire to release hostages in exchange for prisoners and humanitarian access to Gaza, at least six people with Portuguese passports were reportedly among the hostages. Furthermore, according to information from the Comunidade Israelita do Porto, nine Portuguese-Israelis were killed in the terrorist attacks.
Source: DN
